This invention relates generally to the distribution of wideband information or data carrying signals to a plurality of users, and more particularly to the distribution of a large number of video signals economically and in a cost-effective manner so as to enable each user to access selectively and randomly any one or more of the video signals and to display the information carried thereon.
There exist situations in which wideband data or information from a large number of different sources must be made available simultaneously to a plurality of users such that each user can access selectively and randomly any of the various information sources as needed. One example of such a situation is in the financial community where brokers or traders on the trading floor of a stock or options exchange have the requirement of accessing selectively and randomly information or data from a large number of different sources. Typically, each trader has a desk or console containing a number of video displays on which information may be displayed. Information is supplied to the exchange via leased lines and the like from a large number of different commercial information sources, such as wire or other information services, and is generally supplied in the form of wideband formatted video signals which are capable of being directly displayed on a video display. There may be, for example, 120 or more different input wideband video signals to the exchange, each of which may have a bandwidth of the order of 15 MHz, and each of which must be simultaneously available to several hundred traders. The need to give each trader access to any of the input signals has, in the past, necessitated rather cumbersome, complicated and expensive analog data distribution systems comprising long runs of large bundles of coaxial cables and rather bulky and complicated switching systems. Because of the rather wide bandwidths of the input signals, it has not been feasible to use computers for storing and distributing the information, nor to use conventional multiplexed data distribution techniques.
It is desirable to provide a system for distributing wideband information from a large number of such input sources which avoids the foregoing and other disadvantages of known systems by enabling the information to be distributed more simply, more efficiently, and more cost-effectively, and it is to this end that the present invention is directed.